Shipping container for eggs



March 31. 1925.

L. OXHANDLER SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR EGGS Fil y 20. 1922 2 SheetsSheet 1 fi/IVNVENTOdRZZ4 A T TORNEY,

March 31. 1925. 1,532,0'59 I L. OXHANDLER SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR EGGS Filed July 20, 1922 2 sheis sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY W I 1; WWW

Patented Mar. 31, 1925.

LEOPO'LD OXHANDLER,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHIPIPING CONTAINER FOR EGGS Application filed July 20, 1922. Serial No. 576,269.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LEOIOLD OXHANDLER,

a citizen of Russia (who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States), residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shipping Containers for Eggs, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object to produce a simple, light and strong container for eggs or other fragile articles which will permit the latter to be handled and shipped without danger of breakage, even though subjected to comparatively rough usage.

' A further object in the present invention is to produce a simple and novel substitute for the ordinary egg carton which will possess great strength and rigidity as a 7 structure so that, while not much more expensive than the ordinary frail cartons, it may be used for shipping in individual packages. 7

A further object of the present invention is to produce a simple and novel construction and arrangement whereby eggs may be packed in crates in such a way that they will be effectively protected against injury during the shipment, and may be conveniently removed from the crate one layer at a time.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention, and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an egg carton or container embodying my inven-' tion;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a carton or container in a flat condition;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a cellular filler adapted to beplaced in the container;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on a larger scale than Figs. 1, 2, and 3, through the carton or container showing the same filled and sealed;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a fiat which may be used either for crating eggs or for closing the top and bottom of a cellular filler to form therewith a closed container;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through a unit made up of a cellular filler lying between two of the flats shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the crate containing three of the units shown in Fig. 6 arranged one upon the other, one corner of the crate being broken away to expose the contents; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the filler shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

In accordance with my invention I provide covers, in the form of simple flats or in the form of a top and bottom of a container, which shall have grooves to receive the upper and lower edges of the walls that go to make up a cellular filler of any usual or suitable construction. Eggs may be sold to the consumer in containers made out. of the filler and the top and bottom cover tied on or held in place by a suitable paper wrapping; or eggs may be packed in a crate by packing each layer in a separate filler interposed between two of my improved flats, thus making it possible to remove an entire layer of eggs from a crate while still held in the container; or the top and bottom covers may be sections of a carton blank adapted to be folded about the filler so as completely to enclose the same, the container thus formed being held closed by any suitable means such as, for example, adhesive wafers. I In Figs. 1 to 4 I have illustrated my invention as applied to a container in the form of a box or carton. In Fig. 3 is shown con- "entionally a cellular filler adapted to house a dozen eggs; the filler being made up of a group or series of transverse walls 1 and a group or series of longitudinal walls 2; the walls of each group extending beyond the outermost walls of the other group. The covering device for the filler is shown flat in Fig. 2. the same consisting of six sections, two of which are adapted to form the to and bottom of a rectangular box, while the other four are adapted to form the side Walls of the box. The sections 3, 4, 5, and 6, adapted to form the two long sides and the top and bottom, are arranged side by side while the sections 7 and 8, adapted to form the two short sides or ends of the box, are placed at the two ends of the bottom section 4:." The six sections ofthe carton are hinged together to permit them to be folded into the form of a rectangular box and then be secured in such condition in any suitable way as, for example, adhesive Wafers 9 pasted over the corners between the cover section 6, the two end sections and the side section 3, as shown in Fig. 1. On that side of the blank which forms the inner side of thebox I arranged grooves to receive the top and bottom edges of the several walls or partitions forming the tiller, and also the projecting ends of such walls or partitions. Thus the bottom section 4 has three longitudinal grooves 10, 11, and 12. adapted to receive the bottom edges of the long walls 2 of the filler; and the top or cover section 6 has a similar group of three grooves 13, 14, and 15, to receive the upper edges of the long walls of the filler. The grooves 10, 11, and 12 are continued beyond the ends of the bottom section across the two end sections 7 and 8. The series of grooves. indicated as a whole by the number 16 and equal in number to the transverse walls. 1, in the filler, extend across the sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 at right angles to the longitudinal grooves. It will be seen that when the filler is set upon the bottom section 4 of the blank with the walls of the filler in registration with the grooves, the walls will rest in the grooves and be held against displacement. Then when the four side and end sections are folded upwardly. the grooves in the latter will receive the projecting ends of the walls or partitions of the filler. When the cover section 6 is folded down the grooves in the same will receive the upper edges of the walls or partitions of the filler. The result is that each cell of the filler will be inter locked with the box or container so as to be held in place independently of the other cells. Consequently the box or container, when filled with eggs. may be subjected to rough usage without fear that one or more eggs will start to travel across the box or container and thus cause breakage of the eggs.

In order to provide cushion seats for the ends of the eggs and also for the purpose of reinforcing and strengthening the box without making it unduly heavy, I prefer to form the grooved side of the blank out of corrugated-paper board 17.

The body portion of the blank may be made of heavy cardboard 18 to which the corrugated board is glued. The corrugated board may be made in small sections of such size and shape and so located that when they are pasted to the backing they will form the grooves heretofore described.

Furthermore, comparatively wide spaces such as indicated at 19 may be left between the bottom section of the blank and the adjacent sections and between the side sec tion 5 and the cover section 6; thus perniitting the strips of the cardboard backing member which are thus left exposed to serve as hinges upon which the sever-a1 sections may be swung in folding the blank to produce the box or container.

The interlocks between the filler and the top and bottom covers must be practically perfect in order to secure complete protection for the eggs. In other words, each section of corrugated board must fit into the end of a cell in the. filler in much the same way as a head fits into a barrel, so a thrust on the cover or on a wall of the cell in a direction parallel with the plane of the head does not tend to force the head out of the end of the cell. Therefore the parts must be so proportioned and shaped that the edges of the heads of corrugated paper board present vertical faces or abutments that engage with the side faces of the walls of the cells. I have therefore employed a corrugated paper board having three layers in the form of two flat sheets of tough paper, A and B, spaced apart by an intermediate layer C, of paper that is corrugated; the three layers being of course, united by suitable adhesive material. Consequently, whenever a groove is cut through the corrugated paper board, whether it be at right angles to the corrugations or transversely thereto, firm shoulders are formed for engagement with the sides of walls of the cells resting in the grooves; the thrust between the walls and the shoulders, when the covers or fillers tend to shift laterally relatively to each other, being at right angles to said walls and the interlock being maintained unless and until the forces are so great as to destroy the devices.

If desired, holes or depressions 20 may be placed in the corrugated elements of the bottom and cover sections of the blank or for the purpose of' receiving the ends of the eggs and centering the eggs more or less in their cells.

In Figs. 5 to 8 I have illustrated constructions in which simple flats are used either for the purpose of packing a single layer of eggs arranged in a cellular tiller. or for packing a plurality of such layers in a crate. The flat is made out of a heavy cardboard member 21 faced with corrufiller may otherwise be the same as that of the blank heretofore described excepting that the flat is a single rigid piece not intended to' be folded. A container may be made by placing the cellular filler between two of the flats as shown in Fig. 6. Where eggs are to be crated, a series of units such as shown in Fig. 6 may be placed one upon the other in a suitable box or crate 25 as shown in Fig. 7 Each unit may be placed into the crate or may be removed therefrom without disturbing or otherwise breaking any of the eggs.

If desired, additional reinforcements to the filler may be provided. Thus some of the walls or partitions of the filler may be provided with additional projections in the form of tongues or ears adapted to enter slots or holes opening out of the bottoms of the grooves in the flats or container through the stiff backing members of the latter.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, slots or holes 26 are cut at intervals through the stiff backing 21 at the bottoms of two of the grooves. The correspondingwalls a or partitions ofthe filler are provided with tongues or cars 27 both at the top and the bottom in position to enter the holes or slots 26. Then, if these walls or partitions are made of somewhat stiffer material than the remainder the whole filler will be reinforced and braced by reason of this additional interlock.

'hile I have illustrated and described with particularly only a few preferred forms of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of my'invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination. a cellular filler and stiff top and bottom boards each having on theinner side sections of corrugated-paper hoard arranged to form between them grooves to receive the adjacent edges of the,filler. the said top and bottom boards having slots cut through the same at the bottoms of certain of said grooves. and said tiller having projections adapted to extend into said slots.

2. A member for cooperation with a cellular filler adapted for packaging eggs, comprising a comparatively stiff backing faced on one side only with corrugated paper board containing a corrugated sheet and on the side farthest from the backing a flat sheet, said board being divided into sections by two series of narrow grooves arranged at right angles to each other and extending through said flat sheet and through the corrugated sheet; said grooves being so shaped and disposed that one of the said sections will fit into the adjacent end of each cell of a cooperating filler and engage with the walls thereof in the plane of said flat sheet to brace and reinforce the same and serve as a cushion for an egg in that cell.

3. A member for cooperation with a cellular filler adapted for packaging eggs, comprising a comparatively stiff backing faced with corrugated paper board composed of two flat sheets and an interposed corrugated sheet, said board being divided by two series of narrow grooves cut through the flat sheet farthest from the backing and through said corrugated sheet at right angles to each other to form heads bounded by side faces arranged at right angles to the backing and adapted to fit into the ends of the cells of a filler to brace and support the walls of the cells and form cushions for eggs in the cells.

4. In combination, a cellular filler comprising two series of light walls arranged at right angles to each other and forming a group of cells each adapted to receive asingle egg, top and bottom covers engaged with the top and bottom of said tiller, each of said covers having secured thereto a facing of corrugated paper board composed of two fiat sheets of paper and an interven- .iug corrugated paper sheet. the said facings being divided into sections by two series of grooves cut through the flat sheet. farthest from the cover and through the corrugated sheet to produce heads-fitting into the top and bottom ends of each cell to reinforce the walls of the cells and form cushions for eggs in the cells, the grooves being of such cross section that each head engages with the surrounding walls in the plane of that layer of the board farthest from the backing.

5. In combination, a cellular filler made of two series of light walls arranged at right angles to each other and forming a group of cells each adapted to receive a single egg: and a container for said tiller made of sections hinged together and adapted to be folded around the filler. the sections of the container constituting the covers for the 'top and the bottom of the tiller being faced with corrugated paper board including a corrugated sheet and a flat sheet on the outer side of the corrugated sheet, and the corrugated paper hoards being divided into sections by grooves cut through their said flat sheets and corrugated sheets to produce heads adapted to fit into the ends of all of the cells to brace and reinforce the same and form cushions for eggs in the cells.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

LEOPOLD OXHANDLER. 

